Rob's Work Blog

You read my take on Tate's recent "behavior." Now Rob blogged about it on his work blog, click here. He's going to start regularly contributing to the Children's blog, bringing the "Dad" perspective.

I like how he says "my wife and I stayed patient and tried to learn why he was freaking out instead of just reacting to the freakouts."

I hope the readers don't read my blog for the real story! Shhh.

Tate Words

ARISTATE

def: Having a slender, sharp, or spinelike tip.

Important Decisions

A major decision is upon us, and it's just too big for me to decide on my own. So I am asking for your help:

What should Tate be for Halloween?

As a recap, Tate was born a week before Halloween, which happens to be my favorite holiday. Here's a quick trip down memory lane....

Halloween 2007

Tate the Air Freshener.

Halloween 2008

Tate the King

Halloween 2009?? You decide!

I have listed four options in the top right corner of my blog. Please vote. Here's a quick description of my initial ideas. (Feel free to post any additional ideas in the comments section).

1. The Tater Tot -- The inspiration for this is Tate's nickname. I envision some brown felt formed into a cylinder with holes cut out for his arms. A little red fabric on his head for the ketchup. And a treat bag in the shape of a ketchup packet. We have a costume party to attend as a family, so I am already thinking that I can be a carhop and Rob can be a fry cook (since he refuses to dress like a bottle of Ketchup...party pooper.) Benefits: There won't be another Tater Tot in North Texas, for sure! Drawbacks: Brown felt cylinder has potential to look like...well...you know...poop.

2. The Golfer -- This is an off-the-rack Halloween costume that is just too cute. Rob could dress as a caddy. I could be the cart girl. Or a golf ball. Or a tee. I don't know. Benefits: Comfortable and easy. Drawbacks: I would totally be stealing the idea from my friend Courtney who did this a couple years ago.

3. Elvis during the Army Years -- this is actually a continuation of last year's Elvis costume. I was thinking Tate could be a different stage in Elvis' life every year. You know...Army Elvis, Blue Hawaii Elvis, Fat Elvis...it could go on and on into his teenage years. Benefits: No more worrying every year about how to dress Tate for Halloween. Drawbacks: Future therapy bills.

4. Delivery driver for a major overnight shipping company -- When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight (as in awake all night) Tate is your man. His sleeping patterns make him destined to work for my employer (whom I'm reticent to name), so why not start him early? I could get some children's clothing from the company store and give him some boxes to deliver in his wagon (fill the boxes with candy to give others). I could even pay homage to "Castaway" with a little Wilson volleyball in his wagon. Benefits: Starts getting him to bleed purple early. Drawbacks: Gets me in trouble with the Brand police at work.

So what do you think?

Terrible Twenty Two Months

Tate is a turd toddler testing his boundaries. He is really driving me crazy challenging my parenting skills lately. At twenty-two months he is acting like a rotten two-year-old advanced for his age.

Ok, I am throwing away my PR instincts, and I am just gonna tell it like it is. Tate has a 'tude and it's gotta stop.

He has been going through a phase for about two months where he likes to swing at me. Sometimes he actually smacks me, but most of the time he stands about two feet away and waves his arms in a way that looks like he is casting a spell. We've tried "timeout," but he practically skips to put himself in it. We've tried the evil eye, but he usually tries to imitate it which just makes me laugh. But not today. Today I reached my limit. Today I decided enough was enough. Today he intentionally hit me hard on the face and today I swiftly swatted him on his diaper-covered bottom. It was a soft swat, but his face was stunned, and he ran to timeout (I didn't even have to say "go to timeout") and then sat there and sniffled. And then I felt awful. I told him it was OK to come out of timeout, and he ran and gave me a huge hug. Then he ran to Rob and gave Rob a huge hug. Then he hugged his pull-along-puppy toy. Then he hugged the pile of towels I Rob had just folded. Then he started calling for the cat because he wanted to hug her, too. It was like Jimmy Stewart at the end of It's a Wonderful Life.

And he didn't act up again the rest of the day.

So go ahead and report me to CPS. My child is behaving again.

Babies -- They're Just Like Us!

Any avid reader of US Weekly knows that the magazine has a regular feature called "Stars -- They're Just Like Us !" The section usually shows pictures of celebrities picking up their dry cleaning, cleaning their car, etc. So I am starting a new blog feature: "Babies -- They're Just Like Us!"

They go grocery shopping!

They shop on the Internet!

(note credit card next to mouse pad...I expect a new train table to arrive any day now)

Cousin Blake

Tate is very intrigued by his new cousin, Blake. He points to him and says "baby" over and over and likes to 'pat' him...

...and it appears Blake is not so sure about older cousin Tate. But with a birth weight of 10 lbs, 2 oz, I don't think it will be long before Blake can fight back. (and yeah, so I didn't button Tate's pants back up after his last diaper change. It was almost bath time, OK?)

For some great pictures of Baby Blake, check out these pictures on photographer Melissa Zihlman's blog...they are awesome.

Welcome to the world Baby Blake!!

New School, New Worries

Tate started at a Montessori school in our neighborhood today. He's been in a typical daycare until now...'typical' in that one of his teachers was working on her GED and the other one just quit to become a receptionist at a nail salon because "the pay was better." The new school is a whole new world. How different? Well, for one thing, the music teacher graduated from Juilliard. (of course Rob's response was "Well now we know what happens to the person who graduates last in her class at Juilliard").

So I dropped Tate off at the brand new facility with its pale wood floors and white walls and uniformed kids and Masters-degreed teachers and whispered in his ear, "Tate, this is NOT the place where they are going to want to see your guns." I took him to his class and noted on the class schedule that today they would be learning Mandarin. I don't think they meant the orange.

So how did Tate do? Well as I was leaving, he had already emptied a bucket of blocks on the floor. I went back at lunch to peek in on him and saw him sneaking food off the plates of the other kids who were in line to wash their hands for lunch. When I picked him up, he was in a different outfit than when I dropped him off. They explained that they "don't use sippy cups" and Tate's first experience with an open cup resulted in a milk bath. Who doesn't use sippy cups with 18 month to 3 year olds??? Who is this Maria Montessori chick and why does she hate me?!?

So I am a little uneasy about the whole thing. Don't get me wrong -- I want Tate to have a good start on his education, but I also want him to have fun. And to be fair, they were very kind and warm and Tate was having a blast on the playground when I picked him up. One of his classmates (a 3-year old hussy) gave him a big slobbery kiss on the cheek as we were saying goodbye, so apparently he ignored my advice and gave them a gun show anyway...

So I second-guessed myself for having him in a 'typical' daycare and now I'm second-guessing myself for having him in a fancy school...does parenting ever get to the point where you aren't constantly worrying that what you're doing isn't best for your child?

Fourth of July 2009

This is what he does if you say "give me a big smile!"


Getting ready for the neighborhood parade in his decked-out Cozy Coupe



Life is good when you're two...

Until you run out of gas!

After a hard day of being pushed around in a buggy, it's time for popsicles with Big Guy.

The End.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Father's Day Splash

After Father's Day lunch, we couldn't resist letting Tate run through the fountains outside the restaurant. It just looked too tempting as we watched the other kids playing. It may be our new favorite "park" in Flower Mound. 

Sprinkled

Showered

Drenched!

Gracias Rob and Mama Mia!

Well, I don't quite know how to follow up Rob's blog posts from the week...I finally finished clicking on all the links. Hilarious.

But I must say, I think he and and Mom were making it all up. (as background, they claim that the day after I left for a five-day business trip to Mexico, Tate woke up wheezing and was diagnosed with croup). Tate was nothing but a smiling, laughing, happy little Tater Tot tonight. He looks just like I left him, so I think they are just wimps who couldn't handle it and made up some story about "croup" and multiple doctor visits so everyone would feel sorry for them.

Actually, I can tell that he was sick, but he had some good care. I beat myself up all week about coming home...it was really difficult, and if several people/vendors hadn't also flown in to meet with us for the site visit, I would have come home. Sounds like I'm making a lot of excuses and justifications, huh? Trust me, I was a guilty mess the whole time...calling our travel office several times to check the availability of flights...reading about croup on my laptop....trying to reconfigure the schedule so I could leave a day earlier...and I'm still not sure I made the right decision. The only thing that made me feel better was knowing he was getting great care from his grandparents and Dad.

But in the end, Tate is fine, and he didn't slap me across the face when he saw me tonight. I've been teaching him to say "Thank you Mama Mia and Daddy" tonight. He had no trouble picking up that phrase.

Thank you Mama Mia and Daddy! Tate and I are both very lucky.

UPDATE: My Dad has posted a video about the week. (If you haven't seen something like it before, adding subtitles to this Hitler scene from "Downfall" is kind of an internet trend lately.)